As the boat left the port from Split Jesse and I grew more and more excited. The sailboats passing by, the gorgeous blue water and Hvar Island in view. As exhausted as we were from the night before we were ready to get on the island that is known for the water, lavender, and huge yachts sitting in port. Oh, did I mention it is always listen as a top 10 destination spot every year on Conde Nast Traveler Magazine? When we arrived we hopped in a cab and they took us to our apartment that we rented. A sweet man named Ante met us and took us to our place that him and his family rent out. It was absolutely stunning. The view from our balcony was just breathtaking. We were situated right on an inlet where a little beach was and where the famed “Hula Hula Beach Bar” is. The water there is the clearest blue I’ve ever seen. All you want to do is jump in and stay in there for hours. After we got settled in we decided to go explore a little. We put on our bathing suits and headed down to the water. Now, in Croatia in general there aren’t the typical “beaches” that we’re used to in Florida. It’s more like huge rocks next to the water that you put a towel on and just deal with sharp points sticking you in the back and butt. What is there to complain about?! You’re in Croatia. We found a semi smooth spot on a rock and laid our towel down. Not gonna lie… we totally passed out we were so tired. So we laid there, sipping on cocktails under the Croatian sun and jumping into the {freezing cold} sea. After swimming for a while we decided to walk along the water to the center called St. Stephen’s Square. The cobblestone square is surrounded by cafe’s and shops all around the sides with the port in view. We walked around exploring for a while until we went home and decided to get ready for dinner. We were recommended by some friends that we met to check out Giaxa, a fancy little restaurant tucked into a back ally. The food was delicious and both Jesse and I opted for a fish dish with a bottle of wine, of course. We finished the night with a nightcap at an outdoor bar on the water and called it a night. The next day we were going to rent a car and drive the island!… or so that was the plan.

The next morning we got up early and went to the place where we paid for an automatic car. I can drive stick shift but not great and especially not good enough to drive around the very hilly island of Hvar. When we got there we quickly realized that it was a stick shift. He said that if I knew how to drive stick even a little then I would be completely fine. Reluctantly we got in the car and got going. My good-for-nothing cousin has no idea how to drive stick so I was the designated driver for the day. We started up the car and we were on our way. Stalled twice when we were first going out but I started getting the hang of it again. We started cruising around and I was doing fine until we started going uphill. As I’m going uphill, I start to put it in the next gear. Behind me I hear the sound of cars coming and I feel me starting to stall out. I look in my rear view mirror only to see a caravan of about 15 racing BMW’s filled with Italian men coming in hot behind me. Mini panic attack. As I’m going uphill the car is going slower and slower and I know I’m about to stall out completely in a second. All I hear is the sound of 15 BMW’s laying on their horn and them all hanging out the window yelling in Italian. I finally see a gravel side road on the hill to turn off and I pull in at the last second. I breathe a sigh of relief as I sat in the stopped car, listening to all the crazy racing Italians cuss at me as they were driving by. Jesse and I decided we needed to go back and get our money and just get scooters because it was too stressful. We turn around and head back. On the way down we got confused about where we needed to turn in so we turn onto a road that we thought was it and of course it was the wrong road. I made a quick left after a building into a parking spot so I could reverse. As soon as I pulled in I realized I had done something very bad. The “parking spot” I pulled into was on incline and right in front of me was a 60 ft drop straight down. Every time I took my foot off of the break it rolled closer and closer to the ledge. I instantly started freaking out. I thought I was going to roll off of the cliff and die. Like, actually die. I get out of the car and tell Jesse I couldn’t back it out, I was too close to the ledge. We talked about walking down to the water but it was a few miles down. I had to reverse it. I get back in the car, heart racing, shaking, verge of tears, and put I it in reverse. I hit the gas so hard I flew out of that spot like it was my job. Jesse gets in the car and I start to calm down a little. We head back to where the guy was, and I had to talk myself out of slugging him as soon as I see him. I, calmly as I could, tell him that I can’t drive the car and I would like my money back. He replies with “no”. I won’t continue with this part of the story because it involves a lot of cussing but needless to say I got my damn money back! After that I was fuming and Jesse and I decide today will be a beach day. We head down to Hula Hula and head straight towards the bar water with our double tequilas on the rocks water. Give me a break I almost died, ok?! Needless to say had a few too many drinks and before we knew it we made a whole mess of friends that were actually from New York and Miami. We hung out when them until the sun set and then headed back to our place to take showers and get ready. Jesse and I found a random hole in the wall place where we drunkily ate a bunch of mediocre pasta (thinking it was the greatest thing ever) and then headed to Carpe Diem to meet the guys from earlier. We had too much fun that night and ended up staying out a little past our bed time.

The next morning we had to wake up around 9 am to get on a day excursion that we picked out the day before. We were going to do some island hopping around Hvar where we were staying to go see a few pretty awesome places. We hopped on our boat with our very Croatian captain as well as a few very hilarious people from Brazil. Our first stop was at the Green Cave on Vis Island. It’s literally a cave… that is green on the inside. Pretty cool. We all decide to jump in the frigid water to get the day started off right. We swam around for awhile and then hopped back on the boat and headed for the Stiniva beach. I can’t even express to you how gorgeous the water was. It was a blueberry blue and when you looked down you could see beautiful fish everywhere. There were sailboats parked in the bay and people were jumping in the water and swimming around. The weather was perfect, the water was perfect, everything was perfect. Our captain declared that we needed some beers to which we didn’t argue. He jumped in the water and swam ashore. There was a small little shack on the beach that you could buy beers and we watched as our captain swam away. As I sat there soaking up the Croatian sun I see in the distance our captain swimming with a bag of beers for the boat. We all cheered that he had returned with the tasty treats and helped him aboard. We all shouted “Živjeli!!” (cheers in Croatian) and enjoyed our beers. We stayed there for a while, watching idiots jump off of the high cliffs trying to show off and just enjoying the day. After that we were heading to the blue cave at Bisevo! Our captain earlier told us that when the tide is high they close down the opening and the tide was high. We were all super bummed but we decided to head over there anyways to check it out. When we arrived all we saw was this tiny little opening into a rock with huge waves crashing against it. He told us that because he likes us we were going to go in anyways even though we weren’t supposed to. Usually they take you in little boats through the opening but that wasn’t possible because of the high tide and we were going to get to swim in it. On top of the rock I saw a sign that said: “no swimming and no pictures”. Oops, doing both. A brave few of us jump in and swim towards the opening. Once we got in it was completely pitch black and the only thing we could do was follow our captains voice. We swam straight for a little while in the pitch black, wondering where this “spectacular blue cave” was. Right as I’m thinking this was a bad idea I start to see some blue in the distance. We finally arrived and boy was it worth it. I guess there is an opening at the bottom of the cave where the light shines through and it lights up the bright blue water from beneath. It was so gorgeous. We swam around in the beautiful blue water taking way too many pictures and giggling. If you ever get the chance to go to Hvar, be sure and do this. Trust me. After we were there for awhile we swam back out of the cave and got on the boat. With all that swimming we really worked up an appetite! The last part of our trip they took us to Stoncica Bay to this outdoor restaurant where we could warm up (the sun was going down and it was getting chilly!). Jesse and I ordered the meat platter per usual and a salad. We sat there and relaxed and enjoyed talking with our new Brazilian friends. After we ate we got back on the boat and went to one last stop. It was a tiny island with only a bar on it. We all got off and had some champagne and enjoyed the sunset before heading back. What an awesome day. That night we went to the restaurant Gariful which is located right on the water next to Carpe Diem. It was recommended to us by one of our good friends and it didn’t disappoint. Jesse had grilled fish and I had homemade pasta with fresh black truffles. They did NOT skimp on the fresh shaved black truffle and I was not upset about it. We had an absolutely delicious bottle of wine and sat there looking out at the gorgeous boats and watching all the crazy people walk by. After dinner we went next door to Carpe Diem for a few drinks…

The next morning we got up and decided we needed to rent a scooter for our last day so we could explore the island more. We rented a scooter, strapped on our super awesome helmets, and scooted out of there. I drove us all around that island: Jelsa, Stari Grad, Milna, Vrboska, and a few other places. We drove around the famous lavender fields (ok, they were just harvested but I could envision how beautiful it was in my mind) stopping to pick up some goodies for us and our friends and family. We drove all around the island stopping at dinner towns and checking it out. Our same friend that recommended Gariful also told us about his favorite restaurant on the island that is located in the small town of Milna. We followed his instructions how to get there and finally arrived to the restaurant called Oaza. It is completely open air and located right on the beach. It’s like a big beautiful beach shack. He gave us orders of what to order which we followed because he knows what he’s talking about. We ordered the Oaza platter that consisted of grilled shrimp, vegetable cakes, cheese, fish pate, and octopus salad. It was out of control good. Like… out of control. We also decided to get the grilled lamp to split. We ate as much as we could and washed it down with a cold beer before heading back. We got back home as the sun was setting and decided that we had enough fun and late nights in Hvar and just stayed home. We were so tired from all the late nights and we had to wake up early tomorrow to catch a boat to the airport in Split. Off to Rome we go!